In Still Life, Música d’Outrora brings fresh vitality to the revolutionary stylus phantasticus, a musical language where emotional truth surpasses formal constraints, directly engaging the hearts and minds of listeners. Like carefully arranged objects in a painted still life, each composition captures ecstatic moments, suspending time and immersing the listener in distinct emotional realms. Employing a full palette of continuo instruments – organ, harpsichord, theorbo, guitar, lirone, and violone – inspired by Monteverdi’s landmark orchestration of L’Orfeo, the ensemble reveals the dramatic interplay of light and shadow particularly evident in Castello’s sonatas. These works emerge with theatrical immediacy through their sudden, almost cinematic shifts, creating transformative experiences that echo powerfully across centuries.